Gayathri Tummala, MD

Dr. Tummala was born and raised in Pennington, New Jersey. She discovered her interest in ophthalmology at a young age and affirmed her passion for the field with clinical experiences in college. She went to Rutgers University for her undergraduate education where she majored in cell biology and neuroscience with a minor in psychology. She then continued her education at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She dedicated a year of medical school to research at the University of Washington, where she focused on investigating intravitreal gene therapy associated uveitis. Dr. Tummala is so excited to move to the Pacific Northwest and explore a beautiful area during her ophthalmology training! In her free time, she enjoys singing, playing the guitar, painting, trying out new restaurants, hanging out with friends, and traveling.

Hometown:Pennington, NJ

Education: Undergraduate Education: Rutgers University (major: cell biology and neuroscience, minor: psychology) 2012-2016 Medical School: Dartmouth 2016-2021 Internship: University of Washington, Internal Medicine, 2021

Personal Interests: Singing, playing the guitar, painting, trying out new restaurants, hanging out with friends, travelling!

Research Interests: Took a year off between 3rd and 4th yearto work as a research assistant in Kathryn Pepple’s uveitis lab 2019-2020

Publications:Tummala G, Pepple KL. Blood-Retinal Barrier, Immune Privilege, and Autoimmunity. Ryan Retina. 2020;6th edition.

Tummala G, Crain A, Rowlan J, Pepple KL. Characterization of Gene Therapy Associated Uveitis Following Intravitreal Adeno-Associated Virus Injection in Mice. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2021 Feb 1;62(2):41. doi: 10.1167/iovs.62.2.41

Tummala G, Chu Z, Weinstein JE, Wang RK, Pepple, KL. Swept source OCTA reveals a link between choriocapillaris blood flow and vision loss in a case of tubercular serpiginous-like choroiditis. American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports. 2020.

Kodati S, Chauhan SK, Chen Y, Emami-Naeini P, Omoto M, Dohlman TH, Stevenson W, Amouzegar A, Tummala G, Saban DR, Dana R. Interleukin-6 neutralization prolongs corneal allograft survival. Curr Trends Immunol. 2018;19:105-113.